


Showstopper

by visi



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Broadway, F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-24
Updated: 2019-02-27
Packaged: 2019-11-05 03:15:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17910950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/visi/pseuds/visi
Summary: [Haikyuu!! Setters x Reader] [Broadway AU] You may have signed up for a life on stage, but you sure weren't prepared for all the drama that came with it.





	1. Chapter 1

It was quite possible that the only thing stopping you from having a panicking was the incredibly attractive guy standing at the door holding a clipboard and potentially your heart. He had one of those neutral faces where you could never tell what they were thinking, but also the one that looked absolutely adorable when they smiled. His eyes seemed only mildly interested in what was happening, which was a stark contrast to how you probably seemed. 

Your legs were shaking and there was no denying how much you were fidgeting at the moment. Behind those doors pretty much lay your destiny.

The waiting room was packed with nervous energy. This was the day they were accepting auditions for the female lead after all, and let’s be honest, everyone wants to star in a Broadway musical. You were probably one of the more qualified people though.

After graduating first in your class from Juilliard School of Music, quite possibly the most famous music institution in the United States, to say that you didn’t have any musical talent would be the ultimate sin. Music was something that’d been etched into your brain as a child, and so now your entire life revolved around it. 

But that didn’t stop you from being hit with the before audition nerves. You forced yourself to take in deep breaths and not scream right then and there. Before any of what you were about to do could happen however, the attractive guy with that clipboard was standing right in front of you holding a paper cup full of water.

“Drink this,” he said, with what appeared to be the wisp of a smile dancing across his lips. 

You blinked in surprise at the sudden offer but graciously accepted it all the same, realizing that somehow almost all your nerves had blown away. “A-Ah, t-thanks.”

“You’re number 53, yes?” he asked calmly, taking a pen from out of the pocket of his shirt and checking something off on his clipboard.

“Yes,” you confirmed with a nod, still shocked at how easily he’d wiped away your worries. Was this guy some kind of magician or something? Your legs had magically stopped shaking and you were able to take normal breaths again. You were almost positive that this person standing in front of you had some kind of magic spell, or maybe it was just the pretty face.

“You’re relaxing, good,” he said, letting that ghost of a smile appear on his face again. Your heart almost stopped right then and there because of that expression, but you managed to pull yourself together and not die. “You’ll be up soon, we sent in number 52 in around ten minutes ago.”

“T-Thanks,” you stammered, setting the paper cup beside you and quickly dusting yourself off. You attempted to smooth out the wrinkles in your skirt and blouse before giving up and taking one last look at the script. 

“We’re ready for number 53,” said a motherly voice said as the door into the audition room opened. Both you and strangely attractive clipboard guy looked over to see a gray-haired male with a small and adorable mole near his eye holding the door open with a broad grin.

Okay, what was it with Broadway and cute guys?

Was it a requirement for being attractive in order to be selected as part of the cast? Because if so, you were incredibly worried about whether you would meet that expectation.

Which was uh, great.

“Ah, I’m right here,” you said with a nervous smile, gathering your stuff up and slinging your purse over your shoulder. You crushed up the paper cup and shoved it into your bag since you didn’t want to be awkward and spend time searching for a trash can. 

Attractive clipboard guy wished you good luck as you followed the other extremely cute one through the door to potentially your doom.

Okay, that was a hyperbole, it probably wasn’t your doom you were following into.

Just a room full of even more attractive people.

You had to put effort into stopping your jaw from dropping.

They were arranged in a row in front of you, a rather older man with tan skin, a pretty blond girl with a shy smile, a guy with what appeared to be pudding hair, and a dark-haired male who wasn’t smiling. The guy who had led you in took his place standing next to them, beckoning you to come to the center with his hand.  
No pressure, (Y/N). No pressure.

“Alright, we’ll be asking the basic questions here,” said the gray-haired male who had showed you in as he smiled. “For the sake of unbiased selection, we won’t ask for your name or credentials right now. You will be however, asked to sing the opening number and produce tears on command.”

Produce tears on command? You always thought that was more of a movie thing than an actual thing to do when auditioning, but you had the skill nonetheless.  
“Uh, of course,” you said with a smile. “Would you like the opening number performed first?”

“Wait, you can produce tears on command?!” shouted the old man with what appeared to be both shock and awe evident upon his features.  
“Y-yes,” you stuttered, rather alarmed at this reaction. 

“Great! You’re one of the only people who didn’t cry out at that! That’s amazing!” declared the man as the wrinkles on his face was displayed ever the more prominently with his broad grin.

“Oh, t-thanks,” you stammered nervously, embarrassed at being called out already. You were happy that he seemed to like you though, and judging from the way he talked and his position at the table, he was most likely the director of this entire production.

“We’ll start when you’re ready,” said the old man as he coughed and sat back down in your seat. “Just give us the thumbs up and we’ll start the music.”

“Alright,” you said nodding your head as you took in a deep breath. You could do this, you reassured yourself. Plus you weren’t about to embarrass yourself in front of all these ridiculously good-looking people. You gave them the thumbs-up and they nodded before the few notes of the opening bar flowed out from the speakers beside the table.

“It’s not the same in this modern century,” you sang softly, knowing that the female lead was singing to herself in this opening number. You wanted to capture the essence of this character perfectly. And if you wanted to do that, you knew that you would have to place a solid amount of emotion and sass into your lines. That wouldn’t be hard. “The phones and laptops with their bright screens outshine the stars.”

In front of you, you could see the old man’s eyes light up. However, no matter how much of a good sign this was, you knew better than to let your guard down. There was still so much more that could go wrong after all.

“I don’t understand this new technology! The Facebooks and instant pictures make me nervous!” you projected, allowing your voice to grow louder in volume. You knew this part. You knew this character. You were going to show them just how much you were built for this character.

The next part was to be sung so fast that it would sound nearly like a rap, which was hopefully what these writers were aiming for. You dove straight into it, knowing that with all your practice, there would be little chance of you somehow screwing it up.

What mattered right now was how superior you could make yourself out to be.

You needed this part, and you were going to show them why.

It was almost as if you were trying to blast your heart out in this opening number. After all, it was always the opening number in musicals that was the most well-known.

But by now, the remaining nerves had vanished.

You were in your zone.

This was your stage, and your name was already outside hanging in marquee lights.

The judges seemed to rise with your melody as you hit every single pitch. They subconsciously leaned forward as you used the techniques you’d learned at Juilliard to capture them under the power of your performance.

Everything was going perfectly.

Once the music died down and you were almost gasping for breath, the judges stood up and began to clap enthusiastically, though none more than the old man in the center. “Bravo, bravo! Sugawara, check this woman’s credentials and place her in column two. That was excellent!”

“T-thank you,” you said breathlessly as you took a bow.

“Impressive,” muttered the raven-haired male as he clapped however solemnly.

The pudding haired-male merely clapped politely though his eyes seemed to be observing you with a mild fascination. You weren’t sure how you felt about that, but accepted it as a positive sign anyway.

“That was fantastic!” yelled the blonde as she applauded you with equal fervor as the old man. “Your voice is gorgeous!”

“Thanks,” you said, rubbing the back of your neck embarrassed at all the attention you were receiving.

“Alright, that’ll be all,” the gray-haired male said with an even bigger smile if that was somehow possible. “We’ll give you the results in a week to see if you received the part.”

“Mmm,” you said, bowing before all of them. “Thank you for you time.”

You felt absolutely elated.

The audition had definitely been a success, yet you were still worried about the rest of the people lining up for the part, wondering if any one of them had the skills to upstage you.

But right now, all you cared about was the fact that you had definitely impressed the judges, and managed to get the attention of both the cute gray-haired male whose name the old man had referred to as Sugawara and the pretty clipboard boy.

That was good, right?

You left with bright eyes and a large sense of hope in your heart.

If only you knew.


	2. Chapter 2

Even the omelette that sat in front of you on the table could not tempt you enough to regain your appetite. It’d gone cold a long time ago, but still it remained untouched.

After all, there was something of more importance lying just a few feet away from you. You noted that that package looked strangely insignificant and unimportant in the early morning lighting. How incredibly deceiving it was, to look so small and fragile, when that package would determine what you would be doing with your life for the next year.

With deep breaths, you tried to reassure yourself that you’d done a great job and that even if you hadn’t gotten the part, there would be other chances. Not quite as good as this one, but they would be there. In fact, the next ones might not even be decent productions at all, but at least they would exist. Y’know, maybe the other productions would be so bad that they would permanently taint your career so much so that you would never be able to land another part ever again. Ever.

Okay, so you really wanted this part.

With trembling fingers, you began to slowly tear open the envelope. It wasn’t as if the meals you would be eating for the next four years relied on this job, you thought as you began to laugh nervously.

These were the results for your audition.

These also doubled as the only thing that would determine whether you had any worth on this planet.

Okay, so no, they probably didn’t matter that much, but let’s just move on from your inner self-deprecating thoughts.

You managed to somehow extract the letter without tearing it, which was impressive considering that you’d opened this without a proper letter opener. It was here you took a deep breath and began to read:

Dear (Y/N) (L/N) (Audition Number 53),

We are pleased to inform you that you have been selected to play the role of Clyde Kick in the brand new Broadway production entitled: Deities. If you should reject or refuse this offer, you have a week to warn us before you are immediately contracted and bound to performing in the production. Our first rehearsal will be at the same place as the audition, at (Audition Place). All actors/actresses and understudies will meet at the building at strictly 8 a.m. on Saturday, March 4th for a run-through the script and other such rehearsals. The production hopes to see you there in good health.

Attached to this letter is a full-copy of the script which is not to be shown to anybody besides you. The sheet music will be picked up at the (Audition Place) during Saturday’s rehearsal for the chance it may be leaked. You have signed a contract at the audition promising complete secrecy about the details of this musical. Full details over what is and isn’t allowed to be revealed on social media is available upon request from the director.

Details for the rest of the rehearsals will be picked up at the Saturday rehearsal but both the director and rest of the cast advises that you go over your script and attempt to memorize a majority of your lines before anything else. Those selected for these roles should take them as an honor rather than a given.

Please make sure to check in at the front desk and announce the password to be “Clyde Kick and Co.” We will not let you in unless you know this.

Thank you,

The Cast and Director of Deities

You read and reread the letter, scanning every word, searching every line, for some kind of sign that this could be possibly be fake. After failure to find anything that would doubt its credibility, you allowed your heart to slowly rise as your eyes once again trailed over the ink so neatly printed on the page.

You’d done it.

You’d received the part.

Setting down the letter, you carefully reached into the envelope and pulled out an incredibly thick packet of paper. In Times New Roman Font was the script for Deities, the musical you were about to-

Wait.

Something wasn’t right.

You dropped the packet on the table and quickly reached for the letter again.

“...you have been selected to play the role of Clyde Kick.”

Clyde Kick.

Clyde...Kick?

Something was off, and you were unable to make out exactly what. You glanced over at the script once more, staring at the name of the person who sang to solo in the beginning, the one you had sang in order to audition for the part of...Mayne F. Lean.

Okay, so there was definitely something wrong.

Clyde Kick if you remembered from the script you’d read in order to audition was the name of the sassy gender-ambiguous sidekick. Which...wasn’t one of the main leads.

Your heart dropped and it mirrored the way the script fell out of your hands. You stared disappointedly at the script, feeling lost.

Had someone really managed to upstage you? Even after all the hard work you threw into that performance? After all the emotion you lathered on your melody?

It was...disappointing to say the least.

You sighed, slowly picking up the script and looking for the times where “Clyde Kick” performed. Not nearly as many as Mayne F. Lean, but hey, at least she showed up in all of the major songs and she did play a key role in the development of the relationship between the male and female leads, in addition to having a powerful solo at the end.

It actually...wasn’t a terrible role at all.

You allowed yourself to smile again, knowing that you had in fact, achieved something you’d been dreaming of for years. After all, you were in the original Broadway cast of a brand new musical, and if everything went as it should, you would be in their original soundtrack too. How was that a bad thing at all?

You, (Y/N) (L/N), were about to play a significant role in a musical that was going to be introduced directly on Broadway.

How could you ever be disappointed in that?

Once more, your heart began to fill up with an unmatched joy that caused you to twirl around the room in joy, just like you were in a Broadway musical.

Which, hey, pretty soon, you would be.

The rehearsal was Saturday and since it was only Thursday and you didn’t have a shift at the local music store, you had the entire day off.

Right now, you were giving yourself two options. Either coop up inside all day or go outside and treat yourself to something in celebration of landing a part.

And after all the emotional turmoil that audition threw you into, ice cream seemed really nice.

So that’s the story behind how you ended up strolling the streets of downtown Manhattan in search of that really nice ice cream parlor on the corner. Seeing it only mildly crowded made you smile. No long lines for possibly your favorite ice cream parlor on this planet and a place on a brand new musical on Broadway? You could see no possible way your day could go wrong.

Out of the corner of your eye, you spotted someone who looked incredibly familiar. You couldn’t pinpoint exactly where you’d seen him before, but you knew that you’d definitely seen him around. Once you received your ice cream, you casually made your way over to a spot close to his table purely out of curiosity.

You took a seat on one of the bar stools, a few feet away from the table where he was busy consuming a sundae. The guy turned around and made eye contact with you, causing you to suddenly remember exactly where you’d seen him from. He was the pretty gray-haired guy who’d been in the audition room with you just last week.

Evidently he recognized you as well in those few seconds of eye contact for he quickly got up and joined you on the bar stools.

“Hi,” he said with a happy smile. “You’re (Y/N) (L/N), yes?”

“Yeah, hi~” you said with an awkward wave and shy smile. “You’re the guy from the audition, right?”

“Mmm,” he confirmed, grinning happily. “I’m Sugawara Koushi, I’ll be in the production with you, that is, if you take the offer.”

“Oh definitely,” you said, your cheeks turning red due to the close proximity with such an attractive human being. “I was thrilled to know that I scored a part on the production. Um, if it isn’t too much to ask, do you know who else will be in there?”

“Oh, of course! I play the role of the cute guy who leads the random support group, which isn’t a major role, but the person who plays the main male lead is actually Oikawa Tooru,” Sugawara said with a soft smile.

“Wait...the Oikawa Tooru? The one who starred in the Broadway production of Volleybaes?” you asked with wide eyes. Oikawa Tooru was king throughout the musical theater industry. To think that you would be in a musical with him…

“Yup!” Sugawara said happily, giving you a smile that revealed the cutest dimples you’d seen in your entire life. “We managed to score a lot of incredibly talented people, including you~”

“Uh, I-,” you stammered nervously as he chuckled.

“You were granted a full scholarship to Juilliard, and graduated top of your class nonetheless,” he said, obviously impressed. “Not to mention that your audition was spectacular. Everyone’s incredibly excited to have you join the production as Clyde.”

“Oh, yeah, thanks,” you said shyly, looking away. “It wasn’t that-”

“You looked amazing out there,” Sugawara said, looking directly at you cheerily. “I’ve never seen anyone so confident to take a stage and your voice was absolutely gorgeous.”

“T-thank you,” you stuttered as you blushed. You took a bite out of your ice cream in an attempt to avoid embarrassing yourself any further.

Sugawara only smiled. “I’m only telling that truth, haha. I don’t think Director Nekomata has ever been more impressed by somebody. I respect his decision to cast you as Clyde, but I think you would’ve done an amazing job as Mayne F. Lean as well.”

“T-thanks,” you said again, feeling incredibly flustered at how many compliments you were receiving from someone so incredibly attractive. “Do you know who’s going to be playing the role?”

“Oh, I believe her name is (Rival’s Name),” Sugawara said, tapping his chin with his finger.

Wait, what?


	3. Chapter 3

“Oh, I believe her name is (Rival’s Name),” Sugawara said, tapping his chin with his finger.

Wait, what?

You didn’t even notice your ice cream literally slipping right off the top of your cone and onto the counter until Sugawara awkwardly pointed it out to you. This caused you to finally snap out of the flood of thoughts that had started racing through your head after you heard (R/N).

(R/N), huh? That wasn’t a name you’d thought about since the graduation. It’d only been a year since then, making you 25 now. She was the girl who’d one day walked up to you as you ate in the university cafe and declared you her rival. Really loudly. Like, I managed to gain the attention of the entire campus and maybe country kind of loud.

Dramatic? Yes. But then again, considering that the both of you were both majoring in musical theater, it basically went with the job description.

Anyways, back to what had happened in that ice cream parlor. You blushed and looked around for a napkin when Sugawara quickly reached for one on the empty table behind him and scooped up the dropped ice cream and quickly disposing of it. All in one smooth and incredibly clean motion too. No wonder this guy was on Broadway.

You were about to protest about him having to bother himself to pick up after you but he only placed a finger to his lips and continued. “Are you alright? You seem a little dazed after I mentioned (R/N).”

“Ah, sorry about that,” you said shyly, rubbing the back of your neck. “It’s just...I didn’t expect to hear her name after university.”

“Oh, did you know her?” asked Sugawara curiously, tilting his head to the side ever so slightly. I “That is, of course, only if you feel comfortable sharing, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pry-”

“Oh no, it’s fine,” you reassured him with a smile. “I did actually, we were in the same graduating year, and we’re also the same age too. She uh, one day walked up to me when we were freshmen and declared me to be her rival, so I guess you could say we’ve been going at it ever since.”

Sugawara gave you a sympathetic smile, and you could feel the pity radiating off of him. You weren’t sure whether that was a bad thing or not, to have such an attractive looking guy appear to be so concerned about you, or if you despised looking like a charity case. But the next thing he said was possibly the most genuine and nicest thing you’d ever heard leave a person’s mouth.

“It doesn’t matter whether it’s your name that hangs in the marquee lights as long as you know that you are by far the prettiest and most talented person I’ve ever met,” Sugawara said with a big smile that caused his dimples to show and his eyes to slightly crinkle.

You turned your head and smiled.

“Thank you.”

Your conversation in that ice cream parlor ended when Sugawara had received a phone call at that moment and stood up to take it. You two eventually met again after it ended to exchange numbers and that was that.

At the moment, you were currently standing outside the same building where you had met to audition, trying to calm yourself enough to turn the door handle and walk inside. It was officially Saturday, and the time where you were supposed to meet up with the rest of the newly formed cast for your first ever Broadway rehearsal. Which would be exciting...if you weren’t so afraid of seeing (R/N) and screwing it up.

Would you finally come face to face with (R/N) again after all this time? What would she look like? How did you look? What would you two even say to each other? Would she still have that pretentious and stuck-up personality as she had at university?

Did you look presentable enough?

You’d spent the morning applying light stage makeup, just enough so that your basic facial features wouldn’t be washed out in the bright stage lighting, though you doubted that you would be testing lights on the first rehearsal. With all your lines memorized, at least until Act Two, you were somewhat prepared for what awaited you behind that metal door.

All that was left was for you to walk in.

With a deep breath in, you turned the handle and walked in. The place was a stark contrast from how it had looked a week ago, when you had auditioned. The chairs where auditioners had sat in while waiting were no longer there, and the reception desk was back, being manned by the same raven-haired male who’d handed you that cup of water before your audition.

He looked up and his eyes widened in recognition before a small smile came to rest upon his features. “(Y/N) (L/N), yes?”

You nodded and smiled, smoothing out your black skirt. “Yes. I’m sorry, am I early?”

Even if it was only ten minutes before the time when all of the actors and actresses were supposed to meet, you were still concerned with what people would think about you, not wanting to be a burden on any more experienced actors and actresses. After all, as a newbie, who would want to be that one person that screws everything up?

Okay, so as all cliche fanfiction plots go, you were probably going to screw everything up.

But geez, at least you were going to try no to.

“You’re fine,” said the raven-haired male said with a small smile. “The other actors and actresses will be inside that room over there.”

He pointed over to a closed door with a plaque over it that read: Backstage.

“Thank you,” you said before starting to head inside. Before you’d even gotten halfway to the door however, you whipped around and asked, “Wait! What’s your name?”

Wasn’t that supposed to the the male’s line? Oh well, you were already cast as a shoddy sidekick in a reader insert anyway, might as well knock down a few more stereotypes.

“Akaashi Keiji,” he replied simply. “But call me Keiji.”

“Alright, I’ll see you around then,” you said with a smile as you opened the door into the backstage area.

The first thing you saw was the blinding lights of the backstage area, which covered about the size of your average high school gym. This was much bigger than anything you’d ever seen before, and it was amazing.

There was a person huddled on one of the couches with their hood up and covering both their hair and face so that you were unable to see them. They were busy gaming on what looked to be a Nintendo DS Lite. Knowing that it would be good to at least know somebody there, you decided to go so hi.

“Um, hi,” you said with a friendly smile and wave. The person looked up and you could see that their features indicated male, though you weren’t sure what pronouns they went by. Their hair looked like pudding, with blond tips and black roots.

“Are you (Y/N) (L/N)?” they asked rather quietly. Even with the backstage being that big, their voice didn’t project somehow, and you wondered if this person was a performer.

“I am,” you said with a nervous laugh. “Am I supposed to be here?”

“Yeah,” they said. It seemed that they weren’t a person of many words, which you had no problem with. “I’m Kenma Kozume. Him.”

“Cool,” you said with a smile. “Do you play a part in this production?”

“Yeah,” he said. “I’m Thead Visor in the play.”

“Oh,” you said, feeling that the conversation was a bit stunted. You soon realized that you were the one doing all the talking, and perhaps it was because Kenma just didn’t want to be having a conversation right now. Were you being a burden upon him? “I guess I’ll leave you-”

“What part do you play?” he asked quickly, with his eyes slightly wide, as if alarmed by you about to announce your leave.

“Me? I play Clyde Kick,” you said, beginning to relax now that Kenma seemed to interested in the conversation.

“You were great at the audition,” Kenma said. “I’m surprised you didn’t get the lead role.”

It suddenly occurred to you that Kenma had been one of the judges on that panel on your audition. You felt stupid for not remembering earlier, but not like he knew you’d forgotten. “Ah, I’m upset about it, but I don’t feel like holding a grudge will do anything.”

Kenma just stared at you and to be honest, it was kind of unnerving. “You’re going to do a great job anyway.”

“T-thanks,” you stuttered. “What game are you playing right now?”

“Uh, Pokemon Sun and Moon,” he said awkwardly, as if unsure of what you would think about it.

“Oh my gosh, I love that game!” you exclaimed with genuine excitement. “What pokemon do you have right now?”

His eyes widened in surprise as you two began to animatedly, or well, you began to animatedly converse with an almost animated Kenma about the finer aspects of pokemon catching on this version of the game.

In fact, you both were so into the topic that you had absolutely no idea what you were about to hear next.

“Well well well, if it isn’t the dorkiest person on Earth,” said an eerily familiar and condescending voice from behind you.

You froze and thought one word that you’d reserved specially for that person.

Shit.


End file.
